African International Airways (Pty) Ltd. is a privately owned international cargo airline licensed by the South African Civil Aviation Authority.

The company commenced operations in 1980, with a single DC8 aircraft, by providing supplementary capacity on behalf of scheduled airlines, including Alitalia for 12 years and British Airways World Cargo for 4 years. Other cargo airlines also used the aircraft for shorter periods, and these included KLM, Lufthansa, Air Mauritius, and      South African Airways, who have an ongoing contract with the airline.

AIA has progressively expanded its fleet, and now operate three     DC8-62F aircraft. As the scheduled airlines expanded their belly hold capacity, AIA began to concentrate on niche markets, offering the aircraft for specialised type cargo. In collaboration with their UK based GSA, Intavia Ltd., this has proved very successful, and AIA is now well recognised as a global air cargo operator, performing many different types of flights with a wide variety of cargo. These cargoes include dry cargo, including security paper, fresh produce, flowers, auto parts, humanitarian relief cargo for governments and the UN, as well as specialised cargo when an airfreight option is appropriate. The carriage of bloodstock is one of the airlines success stories, carrying many hundreds of horses, to and from countries around the world.

The DC8-62F aircraft is an excellent choice when customers need an aircraft capable of carrying up to 45 tonnes, over long distances. The airline has, and does operate, to almost all countries on a world-wide basis, including being licensed to the USA.